In retrospect, 2023 has been a breakthrough year for Slovak corporate law. Only a few months since the adoption of new M&A legislation and the introduction of simplified incorporation for companies and already another major change has been incorporated into Slovak law. The courts are no longer the sole registration authorities for the incorporation of data to the Slovak Commercial Register. Notaries in particular have had their competences extended.
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Empowering third parties (outside the court system) with registration competence has been a long-standing topic in Slovakia, as proceedings at the commercial courts are notoriously long. In certain districts, the proceedings can take several weeks or even months. Bratislava is particularly bad, following the last year's reform of the Slovak court map, which resulted in forced transfers of court files from the District Court Bratislava I to the Municipal Court Bratislava III. While the statutory period of the proceedings is technically two business days, this was not respected even before the reform.
On 20 June 2023, Act No. 268/2023 Coll. amending the Slovak Commercial Register Act was adopted, pursuant to which approximately 300 notaries in Slovakia became the registration authorities for the incorporation of data to the Commercial Register in addition to eight commercial courts, with effect from 1 November 2023.
Notaries therefore have the power to verify whether the conditions for registering data in the Commercial Register are met and declare this in the form of a notarial deed, register data in the Commercial Register, and deposit corporate documents in the collection of deeds of the Slovak Commercial Register. If the notary concludes that the registration conditions are not met, the application will be rejected, without possibility of appeal, although the applicant will not be prohibited from filing the same application to the commercial court, where a due appellate system is ensured.
Notaries' registration agenda have no doubt grown since 1 November 2023. This is a positive for businesses, which can now avoid a lengthy registration process at the court.
Originally published 01 February 2024
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